Rebirth of the UNSC
by Trane7
Summary: When the Spirit of Fire was left adrift in space, they had no inclination to believe that they would return to the UNSC they knew. So when they stumbled upon a habitable planet, filled with monsters of grotesque design, they had decided to rebuild. Using technology and will they would rebuild. But they would soon learn, they weren't the only humans.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own anything

Captain James G. Cutter was a very old man. Older than most officers fighting the Covenant War or at least among the experienced ones bar Admiral Preston Cole of course. James, old and whittled as he was, lead some of the UNSC's most daring and, in his opinion, the most bravest group of soldiers in its long history. As a Captain he was proud of his men as they fought bloody battles through covenant forces and endured the horrors of the flood. Sacrifice and valor held true among his men, indeed the greatest heroes in the UNSC were the ones that didn't go home. He had made hard choices in his career, these choices having long since plagued his thoughts as he sat on that Captains chair, eyeing the space outside as the Spirit of Fire drifted through space without the Shaw Fujikawa drive. But today he was about to make an even harder choice, perhaps harder than any choice he had ever made. He was about to ask his hardened battalions of Marines, headstrong regiments of ODST's and three inhuman weapons of mass destruction; the Spartans into doing something so inconceivable it can only be considered inconsiderate.

He was going to ask them to rebuild.

"Why'd you call me up here for, Captain?" Anders walked into the Captains bridge, several Naval personnel gave the asian women brief lingering eyes before returning back to duty. Captain Cutter however kept his eyes transfixed onto the recently discovered planet below, a completely habitable planet with little to no need for terraformation to support human life.

"Ellen, how was cryo sleep?" It didn't seem right to push it all at once so he was going to go sleep, Ellen was going to carry the majority opinion of the crew when he told her this.

"Stiff and cold, not much else than that to really say, Captain" Anders moved around the Captains chair, staring into the planet below them. "What I can say a lot about is that planet there. It has unique Earth-like traits and is only a tenth larger than what our home planet is. There is also the differences in where their oceans lie and where the bodies of water are located." The Captain only kept one ear open to her, his concentration more on how he wanted to tell her that this was to be the New Earth for them.

"It would be the perfect place for us to colonise in light of us being incapable of Slipspace travel" Cutter spluttered and spit, turning to Anders in surprise as she had so easily seen his thoughts. The scientist, however, gave him a unimpressed look.

"Captain, half of the ships crew expected. The ODSTs? They've preparing for it. You should see all the warthogs they managed to repair and the ammunition they were able to restock using the ships foundry. The Marines themselves have been readying their firebases to turn them into living arrangements. Sir, we've all already expected this" As she said this several Naval personnel nodded their heads to the Captain, showing that they too knew.

Cutter let out a fresh stream of breath, his head resting gently against the back of his leather Captains chair. "What of the Spartans? How do they feel about this" The Spartans were the most dangerous and arguably greatest asset. The only thing that got in the way was their loyalty to the UNSC and all Spartans were crisp and clear in Military protocol.

"The Spartans are loyal to the UNSC. But right now we're unsure if there is even anything left of humanity besides a few rundown buildings and skeletons, so you _are _the UNSC to them now until proven otherwise." He? The leader of humanity only due to being the highest ranking man that had survived the Covenant Genocidal campaign? That left a bitter taste in his mouth. But then again, he wasn't particularly in a position to be picky.

"Then what do you think Anders? This planet, though very similar to Earth, isn't really the most welcoming" He was referring to the large lumbering masses that wandered through most of the landmass that the planet sported. The original expedition of ODST's had dropped with a full squad of twenty but returned with only five. Though the five were more or less fine psychologically, given horrific events such as the glassing of planets, genocidal aliens and the ODST's own psychological training had shielded them from what would have surely haunted a normal mans dreams that is if that normal man had also not fought against the flood. As it stood these _Giants_ were more or less indestructible, being capable of rapid regeneration and it's only instinct was to hunt down people. But there was a small weakness on the nape of its neck that can easily be hit with the application of jetpacks.

"We don't really have a choice Captain" Anders seemed grim as she responded, "Even if this isn't the best option I can't really say drifting out in the middle of space is more preferable than this. In the end, this is what's best"

Cutter sighed as he rested his hand on his face, his eyebrows knitted together as he thought it over. Finally he decided on a course of action, "Send down Firebases, Alpha through Echo and make them establish a perimeter on the surface. Get it secure and then we'll transport material onto the surface to build a more stable defense. Serina" A blue hologram appeared next to him, the AI having been asleep for most of the trip to help conserve her lifespan, "I want you to coordinate with the ground forces. Make sure everything is done properly and efficiently"

The AI nodded, a small smile on her lips as she disappeared.

"You know if we're restarting humanity, we'll have to fly by a new banner" Anders said contemplatively as she typed into her datapad.

Cutter frowned, "I don't see anything wrong with UNSC" Anders frowned at him but all she got was a noncommittal grunt. She sighed disappointedly before turning on her heel and moving outside the Bridge.

"If you need me Captain, I'll be somewhere else" She disappeared into the catacombs of the ship and Cutter leaned back onto his chair.

"Well I can already tell this is going to be a long day"

**So I found this sitting on my Google Drive and nostalgia hit me like a truck. So I was like, you know what why not. It's semi-original!**

**Note the UNSC doesn't replace the SnK faction, the UNSC is a separate Faction. If I do continue this I'ma probably time skip through it all as I'm way to busy to write the intricacies of building a civilisation using already designed technology from a ship that can spew resources from its port side to its exhaust port. Don't worry Cutter would still be alive by the time they meet the men and women in the SnK world. You know if this get's popular enough to get me to continue or hell you guys who are aspiring authors can use it as a basis for a similar story. BTW if I do make this again it'd be an Uber-powered UNSC and there would be, **_**almost (ALL MY STORIES MUST HAVE SOME SEMBLANCE OF A PLOT) **_**no plot because I'm already fagged out with Naruto:The Voyage. So really this is only for people who want some UNSC killage**


	2. Chapter 2

_**So I decided, since it got like 7 reviews in like a day that I would continue this. Now I remembered that I said that Cutter would still be alive when they meet the SnK faction and I know I'm stretching it considering Cutter was in his late thirties in Halo Wars but hey that old mans pretty tough plus I needed to give the New UNSC time to properly build its foundations and what not. Since the ships had a total of 11 000 people onboard it safe to say that within 23 years that number would have grown by a third or so. A pretty small number for a civilisation but take in mine they're still practically young.**_

_UNSC Military Calendar 0023_

_23 Years after the UNSC rebuilding began_

The loud blares of the AV-14 Attack VTOLs engines was all that was heard as the pack of Hornets raced through the canopy of a forest. The UNSC pilots sitting snugly inside the Hornets cockpit skillfully danced their hands around the aerial attack crafts controls, their hands finely set around the aircrafts control yolk. Standing at the side of the Hornets jump-seats were two ODSTs each, culminating to an entire 30 man platoon of the ODST Corp riding out from the walls of New Harmony. Among these UNSC elites was Staff Sergeant James Riker, the famed 'Two-Hand Massacre' of the ODST Scouting and Extermination Corp. In the twenty three years that the UNSC were rebuilding itself on the planet of Ne Earth, they had thrived even under the domain of huge disproportionate beings none to the Military as Charlie-Ones or just Titans. And it was the sight of these things that Riker was looking at, his disgusted face hidden by his black and silver helmet. "We're five minutes out from your drop off point!" The pilot of Rikers Hornet said through the communications link. "You boys better get ready!" Riker nodded his head towards the pilot, receiving nothing more than a cheeky thumbs up as he maneuvered the Hornet through the oversized tree trunks. The ODST Corp was the UNSCs leading Exploration branch as well as Elite infantry. Today would mark the fourth exploration mission since the founding of New Harmony twenty-three years ago and if all goes well, it would also mark another day the UNSC grew in their new homeland.

"Alright this is your stop! Remember boys and girls, you have thirty minutes to clear out the forests as much as you can before the Marines start tumbling down with their Grizzlies and Cobras" The ODSTs locked on the side of the Horner gave silent understanding as their armored boots left the side of the Hornets, uncaring of the Titans underneath them all gazing at the falling soldiers with wide open mouths. The pilot in the Hornet flattened his lips as he saw the ODST fall, only one word coming to mind "Fucking show-offs"

In one fell swoop the ODST tucked their legs beneath them, pulling the M7S close their chests as they tumbled closer into the Titans reach. Riker quietly counted down the distance between them and the creatures. _One thousand metres._ The Titans lolled their tongues out, their deranged eyes and glazed eyes savoring the sight of their food coming. _Eight hundred metres._ The ODSTs reached their terminal velocity, their matte black armor stopping even the sun to shine down on it as they calmly fell to the surface. _Five hundred metres._ Riker readied his twin barreled fully-automatic M6C/SOCOM pistols, quietly bringing the weapons parallel to his head as he increased the rate of his rotation. _Three hundred metres._ All the ODSTs save Riker extended their legs out, increasing the drag force on their body and stabilising their fall. _Two hundred metres_. The Titans reached their hands up, their moans and cries punctuating the silence. _Now. _The Jetpacks on the ODSTs backs lit up with fire and chemicals, slowing down their descents and maneuvering them close into the Titans face, narrowly avoiding their deadly grips. When their armored boots touched the soft flesh of the did they aimed their M7S down the monstrosities head and depressed the firing stud of their SMGs. The Titans all cried out in alarm or annoyance as these small bullets obliterated their heads and lodged themselves deep in their cranium but it was the after effects that gave true to the ODSTs capabilities.

With timed explosions, the bullets of the M7S that the ODSTs used went off inside the Titans obliterating the inside of their heads and destroying their necks, effectively killing them just as the ODSTs cleared the blast radius. Riker however didn't use that method. Pulling his twin-barreled M6C Full-Auto pistols known as 'The Saturi'. Bracing himself for the bone-jarring recoil of the gun he depressed the firing studs and immediately a near waterfall of bullets streamed out of the guns nozzle, with the close distance the lowered accuracy was nothing of a hindrance for Riker. The Titan wailed in pain as its eyes were shot out and blood oozed out of its mangled flesh. With a snarl Riker pulled free a grenade from his belt and threw it into the Titans mouth, activating his Jetpack just as the grenade went off and ripped the head of the Titan free from its body and killing it. "ODSTs with me!" Riker yelled. There was a resounding yell in the air, one that overshadowed the roaring engines of the Hornets as the ODSTs raged onwards on their Jetpacks towards the charging horde of Titans.

Riker, ejecting the spent clips of his pistol free from its chambers, had a contemplative looks on his face as his helmet's VISR locked on to the incoming heat signatures. '_No MAC supports, Marines would take half and hour to reach us with their Grizzlies and Cobras slowing them down. We're on our own for now_' The Captain grinned viciously, "Just how I like it" he whispered. His Jetpack roared a sullen agreement as he rocketed himself, literally, towards the marching Charlie-ones. The ODSTs behind him following his lead. From years of training and hunting each one of them instinctively began to spin their bodies mid-flight, like a drill piercing the ground they in turn speared through the air, distorting everything around them as they whizzed by in phenomenal speeds. When Riker was fifty feet from the nearest Titan did he flipped himself over so that he was perpendicular to the ground and began turning himself, The Saturi outstretched in his hands by the sides as he became a violent human tornado in the air. Depressing the firing studs of his weapon the ODSTs accompanying him were given a front row seat into why he was known as the Two-Hand Massacre. Bullets spewed forth from the high-velocity weapon, tearing into the meat and flesh of the Titan that he had aimed, the bullets separating the head from the body as effectively as a gigantic butcher blade as Riker completely decapitated the Titan. Clearing the gruesome display of sheer epic power the Captain was quick to reactivate his Jetpack and zoom towards another Titan that was nearby.

All around him the ODSTs moved with speed and grace, weaving in and out of a Titans reach with the fluidity of a master chef cooking his signature dish. The battlefield was the ODSTs ingredients and death was there dish. Riker's Jetpack sputtered and spat, revealing that it needed a moment to recharge. The Captain gritted his teeth and flipping himself in midair he crashed into the trunk of a nearby tree, his knees bending down low to cushion his fall. But the Jetpack had died too fast for him and he had landed on a trunk closer to the ground that he had anticipated. The hand of a Titan had suddenly clamped itself right next to him, narrowly crushing the Captains right foot, and the deranged mad smile of a Titan bore down on the diminutive human. But Riker was perfectly calm, crouched low to the ground and his M6C spent of bullets. The ODST's matte black helmet scanned the creatures face and it was only a moment later that he shook his head, "Guess I'll have to give this one to the Devil Dogs" If the TItan had a mind of its own, it'd have frown in confusion but it didn't so that was why it had little to no reaction when a high velocity slug suddenly impacted against its face, destroying it and causing the giants to tumble to the ground as white phosphorous burned out the insides.

"Cobras, kill stealers" Riker muttered underneath his breath. Casting a glance over his shoulder the ODST Captain was, not pleased but somewhere around happy disappointment, to see the green camo paint of UNSC Cobras cresting the hill that the forest sat on, their wheels already clamped down and their artillery barrels glistening underneath the suns hot rays. Guarding the Cobras were a pair of Grizzlies each, Warthogs riding up forward and zigzagging around the legs of chasing Titans as their gunners unloaded slugs from M41's or Gauss cannons.

A black armored ODST landed by his side, his M7S tucked underneath his hand as he pulled a SPNKr free from his back. "Marines are here" The soldier muttered. Whether absentmindedly or planned the male had lifted his SPNKr up casually and spewed a HEAT rocket straight into the ranks of two Titans, not killing them but off balancing them enough for two Warthogs to speed around and train its M41 onto the monsters backs. "Pretty soon they'll place the firebase and we'll be sticking up around here for a little more as the Spirit of Fire ferries materials for another wall here" New Harmony, the UNSC Capital, was defended by a 50 metre high metal wall topped with Gauss cannons. Since five years ago the last human settlement had begun sending firebases out into the outside world to set up FOB's or separate towns outside New Harmony, where they would grow and hopefully become a whole nother Colony that still held true under the UNSC banner, which everyone knew would more than likely be the case. Afterall everyone in the Spirit of Fire was loyal to the UNSC. These missions were often times assisted by the Spirit of Fire herself, its normal routine of scouting and acting as an in-space factory would be put aside as it returned to its reservice of warfare, launching MAC rounds onto high concentrations of Titans and launching pelicans into the planet below filled with ODSTs and Marines fresh from the Military Academy on the ship.

Riker grunted as he reloaded his Saturi's, the weapon seemingly purring as the cold steel of 12.7X40MM round jackets chambered themselves into the firing mechanism. "How many did we lose?" The ODST Captain asked. The other male in the area shifted his shoulder upwards, jerking his head off to the side. Riker followed the path and grimaced when he saw the body of an ODST embedded into the side of a tree, his hand still gripping his M7S as blood flowed freely and as if to punctuate the sight a Warthog had been caught in the arms of a Titan and the Marines in side were too late to spring their Jetpacks on as they were engulfed in by the Titans, the Warthog exploding in its mouth and surely killing its crew while the Charlie-One had only lost its lower jaw for a set amount of time. "It's not all too bad, only seven dead and mostly from being inattentive or malfunctioning Gear. It happens R, it happens" Riker shook his head, holstering The Saturi's onto his chest holsters as he leaned against the trees body.

"Can you not sound so objective when you list of casualties" The ODST chuckled but it came of sad and depressed. "It ain't as bad as in the Covenant war, I still remember being on Harvest, that hell hole. This is tamed in comparison but...its funny how even when Humanity starts a fresh we're placed against an impossible enemy that we _again_ know nothing about but this time? They look like deformed humans with a sweet teeth for human flesh" Riker shook his head, turning his head back to the scene of Grizzlies unloading onto the Titans. "Well...just be glad it's better here then"

**This Chapter is just to test how fighting in the SnK world would work and where all the Branches lie. Translation, ODST: Survey Corp (With diff of course), Marines:Stationery Corp, and no MP because theres no need since they all are Military anyways. If anybody want to submit an OC please do. I had three OC's I need. An ODST, A Marine and a Survey Corp member. Please help out!**


	3. Chapter 3

**OFFICIAL CHAPTER 1**

_UNSC Military Calendar 0023, November 23rd_

_New Harmony, Neo Earth_

_Captain James G Cutter_

New Harmony, the Capital of the UNSC on Neo Earth, was a large sprawling city (for the military at least) that had been built from 23 years of labour and spirit. The city was a masterpiece of metal barracks and wooden houses all meshed to form a militaristic harmony among them, the buildings all having been arranged into blocks for easy access and to allow timely evacuation should the wall be breached. For the 11 000 soldiers that had made New Harmony their home, they had likewise defended it to their best capabilities.

A wall as tall as 50 metres metres high had been erected alongside the borders of New Harmony, Gauss Cannons salvaged from destroyed Warthogs were placed on top with UNSC Marines guarding the wall with their lives. In each side of the wall was the entrance of a firebase that had been merged with the metal barrier, allowing easier access to and fro the city as well as giving Marines a more secured way to leave the confines of New Harmony on their expeditions. Not only that but a compliment of Scorpions, Grizzlies, Cobras and Vultures were prepared to spew death onto any unlucky Titan should they breach the wall, which admittedly was unlikely considering it was made from reinforced Titanium. This was not questioned by any inhabitant of New Harmony.

But for Captain James G Cutter, the New UNSCs De Facto leader and old man, the question of humanity's continued survival plagued his thoughts was all that occupied his mind. The old Captain stood still as he looked out his office window, his grey officers uniform still pressed and clean as it was twenty-three years ago. The seventy-five year old male wasn't quite the image of a frail and bony man sleeping on his chair with the comfort of his wife in the next room over. As the leader of a colony full of old veterans and soldiers Cutter couldn't afford to look weak in front of them, thus, he had maintained his physique and looked no different than he did when he was fifty-two and skippered the Spirit of Fire in its military campaign. Though admittedly brittle bones would come into effect once in a while. "Serina" Immediately a blue holographic image of a woman appeared by his side, splotches of green and red on several places of her programming. The former AI of the Spirit of Fire had long since past her life expectancy but she was a stubborn woman and Anders recognised Serina's assistance in the building of New Harmony, so with two equally smart women working on the same problem Serina was able to survive her rampancy though it was fleeting at best. Cutter inwardly shivered at the memory of that day. "Yes, Captain" She asked. Her voice had a noticeable twitch in it as her face flickered.

"Has Daniel Hart and Chris Redfield been summoned as I asked?" The A.I. paused, her efficiency being drained by her long years of service as well as operating the Colonies rudimentary functions. "Chris Redfield is currently outside the embassy building while Daniel Hart is in the hallways...based on my calculations should they avoid each other they'll be here in 3 mi-and they just met each other. Make that 5 minutes if they keep to professionalism on duty" Though her voice wasn't like how she was 23 years ago she still had that notable quip after every sentence. Cutter coughed into his hand, his lungs still not use to the atmosphere of Neo Earth as he screwed his Captains hat over his graying hair and made a smart about face. No sooner did he turn that there was a knock on the door. "Damn I was 2.35 seconds too long" Cutter ignored his companion.

"Enter" The wooden door that blocked the threshold between his office and the world outside swung open, an armored gauntlet attached to its handle. Entering the room was a fully dressed and combat operational ODST, trailing behind him was an equally dressed Marine. These two were Chris Redfield and Daniel Hart respectively, soldiers who had became wary the moment they entered the office of a Military superior.

Chris Redfield was an aging ODST Captain in charge of the 3rd ODST Scouting Company. The brown-haired male was set at the age of 43 but didn't look a day pass thirty while Daniel Hart was a year older and had a heart shaped scar on his cheek. These two soldiers had been some of the leading men since the UNSCs refounding on Neo Earth. Staff Sergeant Daniel, the Corporal and Sniper of the original Marine Expedition on Neo Earth had developed, perfected and refined the UNSC military doctrine. What had once been an army that capitalised on shock and awe, the new UNSC marines now relied heavily on long range hunter based tactics where baits and speed held prevalence over psychological effect. Chris Redfield however had been one of the original ODSTs that had scouted out Neo Earth on the Spirit of Fires first day since arriving on the planet. Chris was a legend in the ODST Corp and helped the transition of ODSTs in the use of their jetpacks instead of their drop pods. Where the Marines were suited to fight a long drawn out conventional war against the Titans, the ODSTs were trained to be brutal, emphasizing strength and skill rather than speed and ambushes.

The Marine Expedition, the Marine Garrison and the ODST Corp. These men had a direct influence in the nurturing and development of the UNSCs new fighting force and continued to have an effect to this day. Daniel Hart was now teaching the new generations of New Harmony on the Spirit of Fires Military Academy, educating them on the new military doctrine while the ODSTs thrived under Chris' guidance. The ODST Captain, alongside James Riker, had trained some of the best ODSTs in the Corp.

It was these men, the original soldiers of the Spirit of Fire who had survived the Covenant war, that had made New Harmony possible. It was they who had supported Captain Cutter as leader of the then-fledgeling Capital and it was they who rallied the soldiers for New Humanity. That was why Cutter trusted them and that was why he was about to regard them with information that would decide the future of the UNSC. "Sir" The Marine of the two greetee. Chris, however, remained silent as he sat down on a nearby chair, carefully placing his ODST helmet on his lap. Daniel followed suit soon after, his brown BDUs (Halo Wars) clinking against the hardwood.

"Gentlemen" Cutters voice was more gravelly than in his younger years, especially so when he had to stress specific letters. "The matters that are to be discussed in this room are not to leave irs seams unless given special authority by either my authority or your trusted opinion" whatever these two soldiers felt when they entered the room disappeared just as quickly as those words were uttered.

"What is it Sir?" Daniel asked. The marine was fidgeting in his seat, Cutter couldn't blame him the wait before supposedly important news always left a bad taste in his mouth. Cutter nodded his head to the mismatched hologram by his side. "Serina will fill you in on the details"

The A.I. smiled alluringly at the two soldiers, the smile making Daniel shift uncomfortably while Chris remained stony face. Cutter had to sigh, wishing the old Serina back as at least she didn't harass the men as often ad the current one did. "As you boys know when the Spirit of Fire arrived on Neo Earth we had very little information on the planet and its unique inhabitants. Even know Professor Anders and her team of scientists have yet properly been able to find how the Charlie-Ones came to be. While most of the tests and theories proved inconclusive she was able to confirm that the Titans were not naturally made."

"We already knew that though" Surprisingly Chris had voiced the statement, his voice a deep monotonous baritone. "There's no way these things were naturally made, they have no instinct, no intelligence, no drive besides the hunting of human beings. They don't eat, don't breathe, hell, the only thing classifying them as living creatures is that they move which should be impossible considering their size and disproportions" Cutter had to agree with the ODSTs assessment, he himself having long since coming to the conclusion, however there was a more pressing concern...

"But yet nobody questions the starkly human design of the Charlie-Ones in a planet that was thought to house no intelligent life" Chris grunted in acknowledgement to Serina's words. "While they are indeed confirmed not naturally made that leaves the question as to who made them and why the resemblance to human kind. I needn't remind you that this is unchartered space far away from UNSC reach and the Covenant appalled anything that even show semblance of humanity" The two humans in the room were silent, they would both agree that they had thought little in _how_ Titans came to be, simply that they were here and they were an enemy after all they had more pressing concerns.

"What exactly does that have to do with us? We're not scientists so we can't particularly unravel this mystery knot like Anders and her knick-knacks" Daniel questioned, his hands crossed over his chest. Serina dipped her head towards the marines, her smile growing an inch larger.

"That's exactly why we are having this meeting" To the surprise of the soldiers in the room a holographic map appeared in front of them, revealing the rocky terrain of Neo Earth. In the centre of the formation was the UNSC Capital New Harmony identified by the color green. In a radius of fifty kilometres from New Harmony were four blue dots representing UNSC Firebases outside New Harmony and on the side of a nearby mountain was a yellow dot signifying the mine that had been constructed on top the mountain. From the Capital, New Harmony, was a thin line reaching towards the Spirit of Fire that was in geosynchronous orbit around the planet. "When the first UNSC troops landed on Neo Earth we barely had any topographical data on the planet due to the damage the Spirits observational equipment received when we did battle against the Covenant Corvette on the Shield World" Chris frowned, quite a bit of ODST had been killed during that engagement, "And the EVA engineers had been bust constructing supply pads, reactors and the like on the Capital to properly repair them but it was functional enough to allow accurate thermal scans while within atmosphere of the planet. These thermal scans were kept within the immediate area of New Harmony for fear of putting too much stress on the damaged parts but just a week ago we did a sweep strong enough to reach halfway through our side of the planet" She paused dramatically, watching in satisfaction as the Marine leaned forward in anticipation and the ODST gnaw at the bottom of his lip. "We've encountered several concentrations of heat signatures all across the continent however the largest concentration was found some hundred kilometres away from New Harmony, about a couple hours worth of travel on Pelican and the interesting about this is they all seem to be converging around an area with much smaller heat signatures, what these are however is up to debate as we couldn't get a proper read on them"

A silence dominated the meeting room, the A.I.'s avatar flickered as the splotches of green and red continued to grow. "Serina I think it's best if you leave us, it'd do no good for you to overtax yourself" Cutter warned, having seen the growing colours on her body. The female A.I. raised an eyebrow at Cutter before she too saw the growing erosion her body was experiencing. "Sorry Captain but I'm not as young as I used to be" She flashed him a small smile and Cutter would have sworn it was held a touch of sadness, "Well then tah-tah" She dipped her head in goodbye to each of the Military men in the room before finally disappeared to serve the Colony.

After she left Cutter retook control of the meeting, "We don't have the necessary information to be able to discern exactly what this concentration of Titans mean. It could mean this is their Origin, it could mean that this area has some significant value to them. Who knows, I sure don't." Cutter shook his head, memories drifting back to the five bloody years on Harvest, battling against a superior foe and falling amidst disarray to the beasts that were the Covenant.

"So I take it you want the ODSTs to scout it and find out what it is?" Chris rose from his seat, patting his armor in consideration as he waited for a response, it'd be unlikely if the ODST Corp wouldn't be called on anyways considering how far away the area of interest was to New Harmony. "Yes and No" The ODST shifted his eyes towards the Captain, awaiting the coming elaboration.

"I want the ODSTs to find out what it is but I also want that area locked down when we find it. That's why Daniel is here." The Marine perked up at the mention of his name, "Staff Sergeant you've trained most of the Marines in the Garrison and the Expeditionary Force. I want you to round up your best men and get them prepped for a long mission outside the walls. When the ODSTs confirm what it is I want the Marines on the ground to be prepared to either storm the area or set up a Firebase so that we can properly understand what exactly make these Titans tick. This is a large scale operation, not quite at the level of the Covenant war but no less important. The goal is the same, it had always been the same; the Survival of the Human Race. Chris you'll send out your team first, Daniel inform your boys that they will have Armor and Aerial support"

"What about Jerome and the others?" Chris asked, mentioning the Spartans by name rather than their label. Cutter frowned a moment, eyes concealed by the canopy of his Captain cap. "They're somewhere in the Northern Mountains right now, don't know. They went silent an hour ago, it's just a simply recon mission but given how the Northern Mountains have quite a few of those Abnormal ones crawling about the Spartans were about the only units I could spare to scout it out without coming back in the belly of a Charlie-One" The two soldiers nodded their heads in understanding, the population size of New Harmony was barely passed 14 500 people with most of them being the original crew and the rest were the new generation ranging from twenty year olds or a one-month newborn.

"We'll get it done, Sir. Full lid?" Chris asked. Cutter nodded his head in full confirmation.

"I trust your judgement in the sharing of information but limit it to within your own men" The hardened soldiers nodded before leaving. When there was nothing left in Cutters office save silence and the stale air of the indoors the Captain slid into his chair and sighed. "Mary I wonder if you're safe out there." The Captain closed his eyes and imagined himself on Reach, his daughter playing by his feet and the soft smell of omelets wafting through his house. "There's no place like home"


	4. Chapter 4

**OMG HALO 2 ANNIVERSARY!**

_UNSC Military Calendar 0023, November 25th_

_3rd ODST Scouting Company_

_Somewhere in Nevada (Ie they're really far away)_

UNSC Pelicans raced through the skies in near phenomenal speeds, cutting through winds and clouds as they weaved through the few towering trees in their way. Twenty of the New UNSCs finest pilots sat at the controls of these ten transport carriers. Their cargo; the Elites of the UNSC and their destination; the unknown. They were the best the UNSC could offer, they were the 3rd Scouting Company led by the famed ODST Captain Chris and legendary James 'Two-Hand Massacre' Riker. These two knights in black and silver, eyes hidden by the steel hollow of their visors, stood passively in their Pelicans troop bay.

Surrounding them, nestled in their seats, were a dozen ODSTs all arming their M7S and loading their HE rounds into their cartridges. Silence was their forte but destruction was their motto, such contradiction was only reserved for the toughest in the food chain of humanity. Chris could attest to that, he had fought and trained with one man armies after all. James, well, he was humbled to be serving with a one man army. Such was the sheer epic power that the ODSTs held within their ranks, their most experienced members having been the oldest and had undoubtedly fought through hell during the Covenant-War and their newest members being conditioned by not only the lumbering giants of this world but also by the stories of glassed planets and human heroics. The bar had been set and every one of them knew it would be a long time till they reach it.

"What do you think we'll find Chris?" Riker asked. The ODST was leaning against the side of the pelican, his hands tracing his left gauntlet.

"I'm not one to make speculations with, R" Chris replied, in his arms was an SRS99C-S2. His most preferred long range rifle when it came down to a decision. Slung on his back was an MA5B, his second most preferred rifle. On his thigh was a standard M6C PDWS.

Riker shook his head, his helmet being clipped to his belt revealing his short crop of black hair and steel grey eyes. The Staff Sergeant was a hard man and the Captain himself professional, the two having served together during Arcadia. They were from two different units, Chris was working his way through Arcadias ruins while Riker was the only one to survive his own teams demise. When they met it was from fire and steel, neither had realised they had even reached the company of a human being, the only thought in their mind was surviving the alien onslaught. When the skirmish died down they were shocked to see each other but even then that was fleeting and it wasn't long before they had to raise their weapons in preparation for another firefight. From then on, they were close but not quite brothers. That spot was mysteriously reserved for the SPARTANs.

"You could at least try" Riker prodded. Chris was an intellectual, a realistic man with realistic ideals. He made his men the best and he knew it was they alone that decided if they live or die but it didn't mean he wouldn't try to keep his men alive as much as possible. As such he always had a read on a situation.

"If I expect to find anything then it will be a lot of Charlie-ones in one general area" Chris answered, his hands still calibrating his Sniper Rifles scope. Riker snorted, Chris apparently wasn't in much of a talkative mood.

"Sirs! We're nearing the AO! Prepare for bay doors to open in five!" Both the ODSTs grunted in acknowledgement to the pilots words. The troopers all stood up from their seats, their hands having found no defects in their weapons and each man began working on the Jetpack of the man in front of him, making sure that the fuel and chemical powered rocket wouldn't be sending a man to hell early. "Heads up! There are Titans swarming all over the place and...whoa! Captain you gotta see this!" Chris paused switching the safety of his Sniper off, passing a look to Riker as the Sergeant had slid his helmet back.

"Don't look at me, that kids a New Gen you know how they are. Excitable little buggers" Chris made a small noise before making a smart about face, his boots barely making a noise as he skillfully moved through his men and towards the cockpit, Riker staying behind and instructing the ODSTs to be ready. The Pelican shook before suddenly stopping, signalling to Chris that the aircraft had began hovering. Scrunching his face up in confusion the ODST ducked underneath the door into the cockpit and frowned as he noticed the Pilot already turning around to greet him, his own mouth set into a deep frown. "Sir" He said. Chris nodded his head and the bigger male intentionally slouched his shoulders down by a small margin, his hands swinging by his sides lazily to try and project an aura of nonchalance to better calm the Pilot down. Judging by his sudden change of rigid posture, it worked.

"I caught something on the radar while doing my normal thermal sweep, like massive spike in temperature, then the other Pilots reported in saying the same things. It took a while but we figured out what happened and...well, we promised to keep a lid on it for just your eyes. We understand this is...one of _those_ missions." The Captain raised an eyebrow from underneath his helmet but nonetheless nodded his head in acceptance.

"Show me" The Pilot nodded and began inputting data into his console before pulling a wire from his dashboard and pulling it towards Chris. The Pelicans that were on the Spirit of Fire during its voyage against the Covenant on Arcadia had been modified by several of the EVA Engineers in its years of service. Where there was once a wide window at the front of the cockpit was now nothing but a metal shutter designed to protect the pilot from Covenant Plasma weapons, of course there came the problem of how the Pilot was supposed to look out in order to fly. That was solved by adding several micro-cameras all around the Pelican that were attached to the Pilot's headset to give him a full 360 degree view (Not all at once however) and also provided him extensive use in different tactical data and applications to use when in flight. This can also be manually connected to any UNSC forces with a Helmet that could withstand such applicational use, mainly ODSTs and some special Marine Armors.

Chris accepted the wire and slot it into the back of his helmet, blinking at the sudden data that scrolled down the left side of his head. Things he didn't really care to know but nonetheless found interesting to read. When the scroll of texts disappeared, a small viewscreen popped up at the bottom right side of his helmet and the ODST Captain couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise. "I know, Sir. I didn't believe it at first"

On the viewscreen was a fifty metre tall white wall, Titans lumbering along the side of it towards a large hole in its side. There were what appeared to be old looking medieval looking cannons positioned on top the wall, its ammunition left haphazardly around it as if it had been hurriedly abandoned. Chris couldn't help the small gasp that left his lips though he cut it off by violently biting down on his bottom lip, the pain that flared from his teeth only causing him to grunt. "If you think that's impressive you should see it in thermal view, that'll make you blind" Without warning the picture suddenly changed to a myriad of different colours, each representing a significant heat temperature. The wall was blindingly red.

Ripping the wire from his helmet Chris shook his head as purple dots suddenly clouded his vision, enough of his eyesight being saved for him to see the Pilot smile shakily. "Sorry, Sir" He apologised. The ODST shook his head, a noise of annoyance emanating from his lips. "Nobody else knows about this beside you and the other Pilots?" The Pilot shook his head in the negative.

"Good, bring the Pelican over the walls and launch us there. Contact the Marines in their Albatross' back at base and tell them to prepare their base, wait for our go ahead and then send the ships in. If you can try and get Professor Anders to follow them. Tell the Pilots to inform the squad leaders about the situation, however, keep the thermal readings a secret. For now at least" The Pilot nodded and quickly turned around, his hands flying around his controls as he followed his orders. Just before Chris could leave however, the Pilot made one last whisper, "You don't think whoever made that wall are still alive, do you?"

"If they are, I hope they're friendly then the Covenant" With that being said, Chris was quick to shut the cockpit door, ending their conversation early. On the other side he was greeted by the waiting faces of his ODSTs, Riker standing at the front his Saturi's already equipped and his scarred ODST armor glinting even in the shadowy compartment. "We got new objectives. Search and recover! Find any evidence of civilisation and mark it for the Marines" Like a ripple effect all of the soldiers suddenly began shifting but none dared to question his orders. Riker himself only shifting so that he was facing the bay doors, his knuckles tightening around the grip of his weapons as he radioed in on the other teams and informed them with the next directive.

It was only a few minutes later that the doors opened and the ODSTs were greeted to the same sight that their Captain had seen only this time they were looking at the inside of the wall and not the outside. Surprise surely colored their features as they watched Titans racing through the walls breach, suddenly becoming active at seeing the ODSTs up above. Chris took his spot next to Riker and was quick to send a high velocity bullet tearing through the air and cutting straight through a Titans neck. "Jump!" He ordered. Like the call of a king the soldiers obeyed and they all leaped out of the troop bay, their legs curled underneath their bodies as their jetpacks sprang to life, descending them to a tolerable altitude for flight using their Jetpacks.

Chemicals spewed free and the ODSTs made sudden stops in the air, well beyond the reach of the Titans below them. The trees in these areas were low hanging, closer to the ground than their counterparts outside the walls. For whatever apparent reason Riker found himself still too close to the Titans for comfort and he was quick to remedy that.

Flipping forward the ODST turned into a literal pinball as he raced downward to ground level, all thoughts about the wall and the sudden change in mission leaving his mind as he concentrated on depressing the triggers of his Saturi's and spewing out high velocity bullet that tore through the Titans flesh and dismembering them. Leaving them bleeding and memberless for a set period of time, easy pickings for Chris and the Snipers of the ODSTs to eliminate with quick shots from their Snipers.

There was still many more Titans around the area but with the sudden shock of the ODSTs appearance they weren't as quick as they were to close up the distance between them and the human beings, not that they were quick to begin with. Seeing that their new enemies were still trying to properly get a read on the situation a such the ODSTs were quick to slam their Jetpacks into full throttle and launch forward.

_Outside Wall Rose_

_Scouting Legion_

_Corporal Levi_

Levi quickly and efficiently launched his 3DM Gear onto the trunk of a tree, his Gear launching gas into the air as he was sent straight through the air in phenomenal speeds. His short stature decreasing the wind resistance on his body as he sliced through three Titans blocking his way, twisting his body around and connecting the heel of his feet in between two tree, performing daring and near impossible acrobatics in the air. The short male quickly ejected his blades, the metal having already been reduced to working efficiency as he clipped a new set on.

Levi watched silently as his Special Operations squad quickly eliminated any Titans around the main expedition, Hanji Zoe, the crazy woman, was zipping around the area like a deranged megalomaniac cutting down Titans and asking if they wanted to have tea. The Corporal sighed, in the back of his mind he wondered just how isabel got along with her. "Corporal!" Levi was awoken from his brief reminisce by a shout. Turning to it he spotted a pretty brown haired young woman looking up at him from her place on a tree branch. "Commander Erwin is ordering for a full regroup" Levi nodded his head, the Expedition had dissolved from their usual formation, instead engaging Titans in the forests to help clear the way for a future campaign to retake Wall Maria. Only 15KM had been properly cleared, hundreds of Scouts being killed by the years as they marched through.

Just as Levi was about to drop from his spot in between the trees a sudden crack filled the air. Instinctively Levi brought his legs together, his body turning quickly to act as a drill as he fell quickly to the forest floor before he launched a grappling hook free from his the device mounted on his hips, the hook connecting with another tree and allowing Levi to roll onto a tree trunk, his body close to the trunk as he scanned his surroundings. If Levi wasn't mistaken that was a gunshot but not a normal one, it was louder, rivaling that of a wall-mounted cannon and it obviously held greater power as even now it still echoed through the area.

"Petra?" Levi called. The sound of a 3DM Gear firing and the noise of gas reached his ears and the same brown haired woman from before appeared next to him. "You heard that too?" He asked. The woman nodded her head, her eyes going over the area where she heard it from as Levi contemplated the situation.

Suddenly another crack shot through the air followed by three more before they ceased again. Levi scrunched his eyebrows together, noticing slightly that the rest of his team had landed around him and were awaiting his command. "Eld launch a purple flare but keep it low, just enough for Erwin to see back at camp" The said soldiers nodded his head in acceptance and he quickly did as he was told. Oluo, having stood next to Eld, crossed his arms as he surveyed the sky, noticing the direction of the birds. "Corporal whoever is firing those rounds is moving closer to our position." The brown haired male brought his eyes back down and he spotted some Titans ignoring the Scouting members and were instead bee-lining their way southward. "Their attracting the Titans too"

Levi frowned, his mind trying to comprehend his situation as the grip on his swords tightened. "Petra you head back to Erwin and inform him of the situation, everyone else with me. We have to find out what;s going on and if it poses a threat to Wall Rose" the Special Operations squad nodded to their leaders decision and they were quick to launch their hooks and move in their own respective directions, Levi twirling in the air and using the momentum to send his own hook further than the rest and into the waiting neck of a Titan.

Racing forward, his blades sliced through the Titans neck and his wire was quickly ejected for him to spread his legs wide and send it into the eye of a Titan that was trying to chomp down on him. The beast balked as it took a step back, surprise from the momentary lack of vision before it met a violent end by Eld who zipped past at phenomenal speeds and cut straight through its nape. But as the Squad was fighting the sounds of shooting had reemerged and they got louder. Levi gritted his teeth and launched his wires again.

Something was gnawing at the back of his head, there was something incredibly wrong with what's going on. That gunfire sounded like it came from numbers, not a single individual firing some sort of repeating hand-cannon. This situation caught the Corporal in a loop. Perhaps those conspiracy theorists spouting nonsense about humans outside the walls were true and the scouting legion was about to meet a representatives from them...or an invasion force. It didn't matter which, whoever it was they were in the way of work that costs hundreds of people their lives. He had to find out who they were and need be he had to kill them. He wasn't going to let his men die for nothing simply because of newcomers starting things up.

Because Levi was sure in his head, whoever they were, they could not understand the sacrifices the Survey Corp made and if they couldn't understand it then they were enemies of the Corp.

**Bleh, I didn't like this chapter but I'm not good with stuff like revelations and like that. Bleh. But hey Halo 2 Anniversary yall! But I don't have an Xbox one so I can't play it. Damn you! Anyways, yea. You guys should Review more, I see favs and follows every now and then but I don't see as many reviews. REVIEW! I only actually tell the popularity of a story by its reviews because really anyone can fav and not read a story, I've done it hundreds of times XD. But I also want to bounce ideas off you guys, like how you want this to go about, how should the characters react to each other. Your preferences can have an effect, it just depends if I can hear them and I can fit them in the plot which is still kinda haphazard right now. Its your assistance that I can make this story good, so, yea drop by and help out if you want.**

**Also you can thank Ten Little Roosters for getting me off my ass and writing this as I still work out the Next chapter of The Voyage.**


	5. Chapter 5

_UNSC Military Calendar 0023_

_51st Marine Expeditionary Force_

_New Harmony_

Roach sighed as he swung his legs lazily over the side of his warthog, his brown Marine BDUs covering most of his body. The Marine had his balaclava and helmet removed, the suns rays being far too hot for him to even attempt to maintain dress code. The twenty year old fiddled with his antique Desert Eagle, ignoring the shuffling marines by his side.

"Hey, hey Gary!" A sigh escaped his lips, he couldn't just ignore this one though. "Heyyyy Gaaaaary!" Gritting his teeth the Marine sergeant turned to the noise maker and suppressed the need to yell as a brown haired girl bumped her small shoulder against his, her pale features and golden brown eyes entrancing him and subsiding his anger for now.

"Do you wanna hear a joke?" She asked, the wind playing with her shoulder length bob of brown hair. "Well, do ya!" There was a smile on her lips, her eyes twinkling with childlike curiosity as she awaited a response.

Roach bit back a groan but nonetheless found himself answering, "Yea, I guess" He said hesitantly. The girls smiled widened and she leaned forward, her chin resting against his left shoulder blade.

"What do you call a Titan that can't swim?" Roach frowned, trying to find the answer before shaking his head, silently telling her he didn't know.

"Titanic!" She yelled triumphantly. If anything Roach would have probably thrown something at her but considering all he had on him was his deceased fathers hand cannon, he instead opted to jab his finger into her head. "That's a joke in bad taste Kara" He chided. The girl cried out in alarm as she fell onto her back, her hands cupping the area that he struck her.

The woman was dressed in the same uniform as he was only her helmet was replaced with a cap and a red medical symbol at the front with the words 'UNSC' stitched underneath it. Her name was Kara Eberle, a UNSC Marine from the Medic Corp and she had been a long time friend of Roach since he was eight years old, their mothers being good friends and often times leaving the two kids together as they went about their Marine duties of helping out around New Harmony when they were called.

"Gary...that's mean. I was just trying to make you laugh" Kara pouted, her eyes staring into the ground as she twiddled her fingers together. Roach may be a Marine and he may have scored top marks in Staff Sergeant Daniel Harts 'Command' school but even the toughest of UNSC veterans couldn't say that they wouldn't immediately drop to the ground on their knees and beg for forgiveness when they saw her like this, Roach himself only being able to resist due to his long-time friendship with her. What's worse was that she didn't look like she even know the power she held in her fingertips.

"Ok, sorry" He patted her head, careful to shift his finger around her hair to rub against her scalp. The girls reaction was immediate, her tears disappeared and she looked up at Roach with a wide smile, her pale features making her glow against the suns rays. "Kara...you could kill a man with that smile"

"Eh? Why!" Kara immediately recoiled away, her hands cupping her cheeks as a blush covered her face. "My smile isn't that pretty you know! I'm just a normal girl with normal knees and I'm way too clumsy and dumb to attract that many guys..." At this point Roach was barely listening anymore as the girl went on about how she wasn't a pretty girl, all the while not noticing the multitude of men looking at her with glazed over eyes.

"You...exactly what kind of cute creature are you" A sweatdrop formed at the back of his head when she tripped over herself and had half of the platoon surrounding her and asking if she was alright.

_Inside Wall Maria_

_ODST 3rd Scouting Company_

"You see that right?" Riker whispered lowly, his armored front laid out carefully against the wood of a tree branch. Sure in his placement of weight that he would not make even the slightest crack in the tough wood.

"I'd have to be blind not to see that Staff Sergeant" Chris murmured, a sniper rifle in his hands as his helmets smart zoom zeroed in on his target. The two soldiers were currently within a forest of trees surrounding a clearing, the other ODSTs in the company were holding their ground on the branches above them, hands ready and tensed to rain death on any unlucky Titan. The Elites of the UNSC were unusually rigid, more so now that they had discovered another _alien_ civilization after the brutal slaughter that was the Covenant war. But for Chris and Riker they remained calm, weary but still not as paranoid.

The cannons seen on the walls as they entered pointed to the idea of pre-industrial era of civilisation, perhaps during its renaissance? With the ODSTs armor, they would pose little threat, sure there were chinks and gaps they could exploit but they were sure the inhabitants did not posses the ability of flight. "Shingled roofs, high struts and white painted walls. Very Western-European? No, very _human_, don't you think" Chris speculated and Riker had to nod his head as he pushed himself up into a crouch.

"Well if I had to guess, given our coordinates relative to Earth, which is at least a couple metres difference, then we're somewhere in Germany. Explains all the pine trees anyways" Riker pulled one of his Saturi's and quickly checked the firing mechanism on his weapon.

"Comparing this world to Earth? How desperate have we become?" Chris shook his head, "Well, we all like to find familiarity in the end anyways" Sliding his SRS99-S onto his back Chris fiddled with his MA5B as he blinked, his HUD lighting up as it turned on his long-range transceiver.

"That hill we found south-west of here made a good spot for a firebase, I'll mark it for the Marines" With two blinks, his HUDs 'dumb' AI began performing its function before relaying the information towards Serina back at New Harmony where she would evaluate the information and pass it on to the required personnel.

"Give them some ice-cream while you're at it...on second thought let's just get out of here. This place gives me the creeps" Riker motioned his hands to the rows of abandoned houses nearby, while sporting the wounds of battle, there was not a trace of blood or bodies anywhere nearby. That, it seemed, was the most disturbing part about it. The eerie deathly hallow of a ghost town, its inhabitants dragged away but not necessarily killed. It reminded Riker too much of the shards of glassed lands that he had seen while in his tenure on the Spirit of Fire.

"Memories?" Chris asked. Riker turned away, his expression hidden by his helmet as he walked down the stretch of the branch.

"Let's hope not" His words said, Riker was quick to ignite his Jetpack and soar high into the air, Chris following after a moment of deliberation. It seemed even after so long since the war with the Covenant, there was still some lingering bitterness in the air as to what had happened to their once mighty civilisation (Minus the URF). Chris couldn't quite fault them, as he had a near mastery of understanding in human psychology, he was privy to the fact he knew that Riker was merely gnawing at the withering grudge he still had against the alien species. Time healed all wounds, a philosophical excerpt Chris had once heard Athena mention, but there are some people who don't want said wounds to be healed and there were some who had suffered too much abuse to be healed. Where Riker stood in that regard required more prodding from Chris but either way the only thing that preoccupied Chris' worries would be if these thoughts would affect Rikers combat effectiveness.

Landing on another branch, Chris looked down on the concentrations of Titans on the forest floor. "We're going to have to deal with them, eventually one of the newer recruits might expunge their Jetpacks fuel" Riker unclipped his Saturi's and made a silent nod.

"Feet first into hell Captain" Riker nodded his head towards his superior before stepping off the branch and increasing his velocity by turning his body into a pinball, something the older generation jokingly called 'Sonic-Mode'. When Riker reached a few hundred metres away from the forest floor, he uncurled his legs and opened fire with his Saturi's, the bullets ripping into the eye sockets of two Titans, their heads reeling back further than their spine should let them as they stumbled back. Chris watched as his Staff Sergeant used the Titans chest as a slide and ripped a hole in its gut large enough for him to toss a grenade in.

The coming fireworks of blood and gore was ignored by Chris as he turned to the still remaining ODSTs in the trees. "You can see your Staff Sergeant fighting can't you? Eliminate all Titans in the immediate vicinity" Chris barked. The ODSTs paused, their heads following their Staff Sergeant bouncing around the TItans trying to kill him. They watched silently as Riker did a horizontal flip in between two Titans trying to backhand him out of the sky and in retaliation he trained his Saturi's on the nearest Titans shoulder, cleaving the tendon ataching the limb inot the body apart and causing the beast to drop to its knee in pain. Flipping in midair to gain some momentum, Riker was able to get into a firing position on the Titans neck and obliterate it.

"Um...Yes sir" One of the newer ODSTs, Private Dylan Holloway, nodded his head before jumping off the branch he was on and igniting his Jetpack, eager to please his commanding officer as he opened fire on the nearest Titan with his M7S, watching in satisfaction as it fell to the ground. But just as sudden as he began hovering in his place, he was caught in surprise as his HUD suddenly barked a waring in a fast approaching target behind him and the ODST could only blink before a Titan, a Deviant hopper, had launched itself high up in the air, its hands parallel to its face and its legs brought up to its side as if it was a frog, suddenly slammed its jaw on the human. Crushing the human body in between the white jagged teeth in its mouth. "Deviants! All ODSTs engage!" Deviants were bad, deviants were the bane of long-distance scouting missions. And these were the goddamn _hoppers_.

There was no more waiting among the ODSTs, their members now all jumping off in eager anticipation at the loss of a comrade as well as to assist their Captain as even an Elite of the UNSC would find difficulty fighting Deviants by themselves.

Chris pulled his SRS99C-S2, or Sniper Rifle, off his back and sighted in his target. The Deviant. With precision befitting one of his capabilities Chris was able to press down the trigger of his rifle with near perfect calm, his hands barely jarring back at the recoil as he spread the recoil between his two space out legs. The high-velocity bullet tore through the air and slammed into the creatures achilles heel, destroying the tendon and eliminating the Titans maneuverability. A literal sitting duck for the ODSTs.

With a mute silence, Chris swiveled his weapon around again and fired off another shot at a Titan that was about the crush an ODST between his fingers, the bullet tearing through its eye, passing it nose, and slicing its opposite eye wide open. Crying out at its blindless, the TItan was helpless as Riker flew in and turned into a human tornado, launching bullets every which way and decimating the TItans in the area with his patented move.

Nodding his head, Chris crouched low to the ground and waited for another target to present itself, the ODST Captain preparing his Jetpack to join the fray when he spots an ODST group needing assistance but so far Riker was doing an outstanding job at keeping the men alive, even if a few still managed to find themselves in the belly of a Titan. It was then that Chris suddenly had a ping light on his helmets HUD, his motion tracker catching on to a fast moving object in the altitude as he was. 'More Deviants?' Chris wondered. Chris' tactical mind suddenly kicked in and he knew he couldn't allow the Titan to reach the ODST currently duking it out with it brethren below.

Preparing his stance, Chris hooked his right arm across the underside of the Sniper barrels so that it was resting on the crook of his arm and readied his arm, however he couldn't see the Titan, meaning either the trees were hiding him or it was still a ways away, which was unlikely. So sighting himself onto a nearby, Chris depressed the trigger of his rifle, his bullet tearing through the air before it impacted against the bark where the bullet proceeded to shred through the wood and appear on the otherside. While the SRS could fire slugs at outstanding speeds, Chris knew that the Sniper bullet would lose much of its initial Kinetic Energy once it cleared the trees but that was ok, Chris was only expecting to blind the Titan on the otherside of it. But what came next was a shock for him as his acute hearing, able to tune out the sounds of fighting below him, was able to pick up on a distant yet still very clear male scream. His eyebrows creased together and he wondered if he engaged in friendly fire before shaking his thoughts clear, if it was a friendly than the ping would obviously identify it as a friend rather than an enemy. So then who had just screamed. Before he could ponder anymore three red dots suddenly appeared, and they were moving _aggressively_ towards him.

"What the...?" Swinging his Sniper to the right, Chris immediately let loose a round, still unable to see the targets moving towards him. His mind tried to find out what was going on but it was drown out by familiar yet distant words in his mind, '_When faced with the unknown it is better to be prepared for conflict rather than an outstretched hand. Afterall, the objective is far more important that a misplaced life' _Bringing his Sniper to bear on another contact, Chris was happy to see that only two were heading towards him. Making another shot, only one target was heading for him.

Swiveling his weapon to the final target, he was prepared to fire another shot before his gun suddenly click. _Out of ammo_. Damn, he had been too cocky, fighting only mindless beasts for the past 23 years had dulled his nerves. Realising that he couldn't reload his weapon any faster than the target would meet him Chris was quick to drop his Sniper Rifle and rip his pistol off from his side holster. When he trained his eyes ahead of him, Chris was shock, no, completely dumbfounded, to see a laughably short male suddenly appear in front of him, some sort of contraption on his hips as he raced towards the ODST with swords in his hands and a facial expression that seemed to suggest he was either bored or constipated. In either words the male reminded Chris of Chief Mendez.

In his momentary stall in identifying the threat the unknown male had cleared the distance between the two of them and poised his blades ready to strike on the Captain. With speed that defied normal understanding, Chris was quick to bring his pistol up and block the swing using his pistols trigger guards. The man seemed to have detached the metal wires connecting to his hips just in time to dodge Chris' quick towards the his abdomen, aiming for a quick and decisive end to the short battle. The shorter male dropped a few feet back before jumping forward with the intent of maiming Chris' head off, well, as far as the Captain could see anyways. Chris was forced to use his sidearm as a knife to parry the shorter males insanely fast sword swings. While his body had been conditioned for quick, accurate and precise movements, it seemed the male in front of him was quite literally hardened to _adapt_ into _becoming_ something of the same calibre. Added with Chris being unable to fire since his gun was distracted with blocking the _two_ blade aiming to dismember him, he was forced to remain wary.

It was only one the two soldiers had finally locked themselves, the shorter males weapons in an X formation on Chris' pistol guards, was the ODST Captain finally able to take a shot. Depressing the firing stud, the bullet was launched free and impacted against the males shoulder, not quite hitting the shoulder blade but nonetheless grazing it enough to sprout blood from the wound. Grunting at the sudden wound, the shorter male seemed to ignore it as he raised his swords into the air abruptly, forcing Chris' gun into the air and leaving his body exposed to attack.

The shorter swung his left swords towards Chris' stomach but Chris was able to bring his free hand to block the strike, the blade only scratching against his armors advance polymer and the shorter soldiers made something of a 'tch' sound before bringing the right blade, that was still in its raised position, down onto Chris' vulnerable right side where his right arm would not be fast enough to protect. Chris was sure the damage would be superficial and it seemed the shorter male had expected that as well, as with the trajectory of the blade the sharp metal would be driving itself between two plates on his right side that were quite spaciously spaced apart to allow the upper body to bend to the lower body, essentially it was a hole where the only thing protecting the soft flesh underneath was Chris' rubber undersuit. Expecting the blade ti neatly cut into his skin and gutting him, a sudden crack filled the air and the blade was snapped into two.

The shorter man blinked in surprise before an armored fist suddenly slammed into the males chin and sent him spiralling into the air before he rolled back onto the tree branch into a crouch. "Hold it!" The unmistakable voice of Riker was heard. Chris dropped himself to a hand-to-hand combat stance, knees spread apart and left arm held out in front of him while his right hand was held close to his chest. The barrel of his M6C having been damaged enough by the forceful push of the sharp blades that it would be a danger to try and fire. All around the area, ODSTs that had previously been busy battling on the forest floor, too far below for their motions sensors to catch the sporadic movements up above nor near focused enough to realise their leader needed help, were now surrounding the lone humanoid from different angles.

"That was timely" Chris grunted as he pulled his MA5B from his back.

"Sorry bout that, a Deviant came out and asked for my hand in marriage. Couldn't just say no with all the boys looking at me so I had to get creative. Needless to say, he won't be stirring up anymore trouble" Chris ignored his Staff Sergeants colorful way of explaining that, he was most likely rattled at the sudden appearance of another humanoid, no, a _human_ come out of nowhere and tried to kill their commanding officer using some kind of downgraded version of their Jetpacks and swords.

"I would imagine so" Chris said mildly as he crouched low to the ground. Gathering his thoughts Chris reexamined the male in front of them. While short, in fact shorter than a UNSC soldiers standard which was 6'2' and the male being only what appeared to be 5'2', the male projected an aura of authority and not like that of a military officer, more like a mafia soldiers fighting for his family, or at least that was how it felt for Chris. The male was dressed in some sort of uniform, revealing he was most probably part of some sort of paramilitary as he also had a green coat over his shoulders. There was a look in his eyes, a sort of haunting feel that was only amplified by the grittiness of his looks.

"Why did you attack me" Chris asked calmly. Silence greeted him, the male only staring intently at the male ahead of him. Frowning the Captain creeped forward as he said the question again, this time making sure to make himself and the weapons he was holding look as threatening as possible which meant exaggerated hand and head gestures. The males only response was to raise an eyebrow. It was only a few seconds later that he sighed and spoke. The words were foreign but Chris' onboard 'Dumb' AI was capable of comprehending it as an archaic, not, _customised(?)_ version of German.

"I do not understand your gibberish" Before any of them could react an ODST on a branch highest of the unknown male suddenly yelp as a metal wire attached itself onto his armor, where a man dressed similarly to the shorter male appeared and tried to cut the ODST in two. The armor however blocked most of the shot and the UNSC soldiers was able to clamp his hand onto his arm where he was then able to toss the foreign soldier into the tree bark next to him and hold him there, his armors weight and his own overall strength holding him back. Two more soldiers appeared but they were swiftly dealt with by the ODSTs, as even after so long, there was still no doubt that when it came down to killing _humans_, the UNSC held the utmost experience. Chris watched the entire confrontation only passingly, noting how each of the males sported a torn coat or a grazed limb, no doubt they were the ones he was aiming for when he was firing his Sniper. Lucky for them, he had thought he was shooting at Titans relative to the size of each tree, otherwise he would have adjusted accordingly and factored in a human form.

"Who are you?" Chris said, this time however he used German, or the subtitles that the AI was providing as it tried to analyse the language but was slow at it considering its nature. Chris wished that Serina was here, hell, even Anders would be appreciated. He was a foot soldiers, he didn't do well as a politician.

The shorter male paused, as if he was in some kind of physical struggle as he stared Chris down before he glared back at him. "Levi" The small man proclaimed. Nodding his head Chris tried to further their conversation.

"Why did you attack me?"

"You attacked first" The male was quick to accuse, though he remained completely cold and unflappable, not quite accusing more like merely stating a fact. "Why else would I attack you, an unknown, who is currently within our walls, shooting your strange weapons and wearing strange intimidating armor" Now he was just taunting them, albeit using sound reasons.

"Prissy little ass, ain't he?" Riker commented. It was only by a mere moment later that a flare was suddenly launched in the air, a black flare and it had been made by Levi who was still looking calmly at Chris, though his eyes were dodging towards Riker as well. Both the Staff Sergeant and Captain knew, they just _knew_, that even if he couldn't understand Rikers words, he did just to spite them.

"Why do you want to do?" Riker asked.

"Bag' em and hold. Send word out to the Marines. Get them to send everything they got. We might just have started a war" Chris ordered calmly. Immediately a ODST drop down behind Levi and tried to knock him out but instead found a face impacting against his helmet and the a knee hitting his ground. Doubling over in pain, Chris' could hear the short male mutter something along the lines of 'Filthy hands' and 'Filth is disgusting'...

**Meeting between Levi and ODST Corp, commenced. Now the Survey Corp and a huge motherfucking gun!**


End file.
